Patout, Fontana, and Dellis PLLC

Focus and practice areas

Two areas carry most of the weight here: construction law and first-party insurance claims. Around them the firm handles business, commercial, and corporate matters, along with oil and gas, real estate, and estate planning and probate. Mediation and arbitration complete the published list. In my opinion the mix reads like a firm built for property owners, builders, and businesses that end up in disputes over money and contracts.

The firm groups these under one Houston roof and offers free initial consultations. That blend of transactional and litigation work gives clients a single place for both the paperwork and the dispute when a deal goes wrong.

The transactional and advisory side

Beyond litigation, the firm handles business, commercial, and corporate law, which covers the contracts, entity setup, and governance questions that companies deal with as they grow. Its oil and gas work fits the Texas market, where leases, royalties, and mineral rights raise their own set of questions. Real estate and estate planning and probate fill out the advisory side, the first for property transactions and the second for wills, trusts, and the administration of an estate after a death.

Inside the construction work

Construction is the area the firm details most. It names construction litigation, arbitration, defect claims, liens, contracts, and construction accidents as the matters it takes.

Each of those follows its own track. Mechanic's and materialman's liens in Texas run on strict filing and notice deadlines, and a missed date can cost the claim, so this work rewards attention to the calendar. Defect claims usually turn on inspection reports and engineering opinions about what failed and why. Construction accident matters bring in safety records and questions of who controlled the site. As a reviewer, I read a list this specific as a sign the firm handles these files regularly.

Contracts and dispute resolution

Contracts form the base of most construction disputes, and clear drafting up front decides how a later fight plays out over scope, delay, and payment. The firm lists arbitration on its construction menu and also names mediation and arbitration as a standalone service, so it can work inside the private dispute channels many construction contracts set as the route for settling a claim. That range lets one firm draft the agreement and then represent the client if the same agreement later triggers a dispute.

First-party insurance claims

The firm's second detailed area is first-party insurance work, meaning claims a policyholder brings against their own insurer. It lists hurricane, flood, fire, and hail damage as the claim types it handles.

These matters are common along the Texas Gulf Coast, where storms drive large volumes of property claims. A first-party dispute often moves through a proof-of-loss submission, an appraisal step written into many policies, and litigation when the carrier and the owner still disagree on the amount owed. Construction knowledge next door helps here, since the value of a storm claim often turns on what the repairs actually cost.

Timing shapes these cases. Texas sets deadlines for reporting a loss and for filing suit, and policy terms often require notice within a set window, so an early review of the policy language matters. The firm's free consultation gives a claimant a way to have that language read before deadlines pass.

How the team is built

The firm names three attorneys at law: John J. Patout Jr., Anthony Fontana, and Cameron B. Dellis. Two law clerks, Kacie Penman and Anees Joubran, complete the group the site presents.

The three named partners match the firm name, which points to a closely held firm where the people who sign the door also handle the work. The firm states it has over 13 years of experience and offers free consultations to new clients. The site does not list a founding year, so the stated experience is the clearest marker of how long the group has practiced.

Law clerks generally support attorneys with research and drafting as they work toward admission to the bar, so their inclusion adds capacity behind the three named lawyers. The site presents all five under a single heading, which reads as a compact team where work moves between the attorneys and their support directly.

Where the firm works

Houston anchors the firm, and it says it serves clients across the whole state of Texas. It calls out several counties by name: Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Liberty, and Galveston. That reach lines up with its storm and construction focus, since these are coastal and inland counties around Houston where both kinds of work turn up.

A second office in Denver, Colorado runs by appointment. The firm also keeps a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for people who want to read its updates before making contact.

What the firm offers new clients

Free consultations lower the cost of a first conversation, which matters when someone is unsure whether they even have a claim. In my opinion that offer fits a firm weighted toward disputes, where the first question is often whether the numbers justify a case at all.

The firm handles both the contract side and the courtroom side of construction and insurance matters, and it accepts clients across Texas with a Denver office by appointment. It lists construction, insurance, business, oil and gas, real estate, and estate work as its practice areas, and it offers free initial consultations to review a new matter.